Greg Abbott - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 24 March 2009 By Thetashkentterror

Blues boss Greg Abbott
United boss Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey and Amanda Little from the News and Star on Tuesday morning ahead of Carlisle's big relegation six-pointer at home to Hereford, Abbott spending a day in front of the television after Saturday's awful 3-0 defeat at Southend :


" I certainly didn't have a day off on Sunday, I can tell you that now, I made about 25 phone calls and watched the video of it twice over, so I had 180 minutes of that. It ruined Mother's Day, my Mum is not best pleased with me but I won't be too bothered about that, and nor will she if hopefully the work that I did on Sunday goes towards us getting a result tonight, that is a very important thing at the moment. There is a determination within the group that I have just had this morning, that is the backroom staff, to make sure that we put it right, to make sure that we get the right work today.

" It is a game, we know that we are capable of winning it, that goes without saying that we know that we are capable of winning it, but you don't go and win games easily without being absolutely prepared right and being up for the task ahead. It is not going to be an easy game because they are fighting for their lives as well, and credit to Hereford, up to the last couple of games they have had a good run that has given them a glimmer of hope.

" We have done our homework on them though, I have seen them play last week and there has got to be a steel and a determination about our work. I think that starts with myself and it spreads right the way through my staff and into the players that we get things spot on for tonight. A result tonight then puts a hell of a lot of pressure on teams below us.

" My points total is 45 after tonight, I am not trying to be blasé put my points total is 45 after tonight, that means that we have won that game and I will look at the other situations and the other things after that. I am not really bothered about totals of points at the end of the season, I am bothered about winning games. "



" We have to do our own work, we don't have to sit there and wait for others, if you do that then you are waiting for disaster and we are not going to do that. Let's say that 45 after tonight's game will make me a lot happier than I am sat in this seat just at the moment. Talking about long-term, I am not really going to set any figures or goals, I think that they are all hypothetical and irrelevant at this moment in time.

" I don't know if the players realise the situation, I would hope so, I will find out when I look into their eyes this morning. I have been here nice and early, not because it is a situation, I do that anyway, I prepare like that anyway. Sometimes I am early for these meetings, sometimes I am a little bit later, I have got things to do today, I have got a lot of things to do.

" I want to make sure, because I am going to be stood in front of the fans as brave as I can be, without hiding from anything, without shirking any responsibility. What I want the rest of my players to do is that I need them to perform to give me ammunition for the fans to clap us all off the pitch and not boo us all off the pitch. Responsibility has to be passed on from myself onto the players to perform in a football match.

" Because once they have crossed that white line I have done everything that I can, it is down to them to perform and to perform like we know that they can, otherwise we are going to get criticisms again. What I would say though is that I think that the fans have been exceptional, they are entitled to their grumblings and they are entitled to their criticisms. What we need now though and what this group of players needs is absolute support and they need absolute encouragement. "



" We can work out why we didn't do this this season or why we didn't do that this season when this situation is resolved. At the minute, collectively from the board right down to the supporters, right the way through the club and the city, we need everybody with us. That is how important I think that it is now, if people don't get the message from that, and I am on about our players, as well as the fans, then they are not listening to the right things.

" What we want now though is a collective effort where everybody is together and we don't criticise the odd bad pass or the odd misplaced cross. What we have got to do is to criticise people that aren't tough enough, people that don't go into tackles and come out with a determination and a desire to win the ball.

" Eventually if we do all that sort of stuff then the crowd will react to that, I know that they will because that is what they are like, the people up here, that is what they are like. They want a genuine determined effort collective from everybody, and they certainly want to see the players roll their sleeves up, roll their sleeves up and take the game to Hereford.

" This is Hereford that we are talking about, we are not going to get much sympathy from the terraces because it is a game that they expect us to win. All I would say is, understand the frustrations at times, understand what the players may be going through, but they have got a responsibility to put that to bed and give the fans something to get off their seats and clap for. I think that they are waiting to do that to be honest. "



" It is a difficult time to get the right people in, I could get you somebody in, I could get you somebody in within the next five minutes but we have got to get the right people. We can't just go around willy-nilly getting anybody in, the stage of the season that we are at everybody wants the best players don't they, and the better players are hard to get. We are making phone calls, Dennis (Booth) has just been on the phone again for another hour and we are hopeful that by the end of the week, maybe.

" It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that we are down to the bare bones at the back. Peter (Murphy), at the minute he is going to see the doctor, the surgeon, to see if he can battle through what he has got or to see if he needs some sort of injection to speed things up to get him through to the end of the season.

" I don't know the answer to that and he is seeing the doctor or the surgeon, the specialist, today and we will find out later on that. So that will dictate as well whether we need to go into that market for that area of the field. If it is bad news then we will have to wait and see about that, but I need to get that report before I move on anything on that. The focus though is massively on the game but that focus goes on, it is work that we have to do and we have to be ready for.

" We are working on bits and pieces to score more goals, we are trying different ideas. Again we had three or four chances on Saturday that in other games might have been taken. We have certainly had chances in the last few games that need to go in the back of the net. That is the front players, they have to take responsibility on putting the ball in the back of the net as well, just like everybody else's responsibility all over the field. "



" We have got a problem at both ends of the field at the minute. That is why we are in the position that we are in and it is up to us to do something about that. We talked about the figures and the defensive figures, we did concede a lot of goals early on in the season. We have rectified that to an extent, we have not scored as many goals as we would like to and we need to do that. We need to keep the clean sheet, that is another key, we had a couple didn't we a while ago, about a month ago or so, but if we get one then we will win the game, it is as simple as that, and that is what we are aiming for.

" The fans need to understand the frustration but they need to try to come with us. We are going to try to give them something to clap and cheer about. We are going to come out with a real hunger, with a real desire, I think that pleases the fans, once they see that determination then they get behind us. They want to see something happen on the pitch to excite them, they are not on their own, I want that as well.

" I want them to get behind us though, we are in a situation now where we need all hands to the pump. We can work out what has gone wrong and what we need to do and the whys and where fors of the season when we have got the situation resolved. Let's resolve the situation first though and then we move on from there.

" We are talking about responsibilities, I come into these rooms and I face all the questions and I would hope that I give you the answers as honest as I can, and as complete as I can. I think that responsibility is a key word for me, honesty, responsibility, is something that I will never shy away from. Am I going to stand there and try to shirk responsibility by not making brave decisions or not making brave statements to the players? "



" I think that the answer to that is that I will be, I will be there, I will stand tall, I will stand with my staff behind me. I want the players to feel that responsibility as well, it is a time for bravery and honesty and a real determination. I think that possibly this is as determined at a press conference I have been because I already can't wait for tonight, I am already itching to get three points under my belt.

" Work starts for me, it didn't start at 7.45 this morning, it started at 4.45 on Saturday after the game. I spent a hell of a long day yesterday analysing it and breaking it down, have I analysed it too much, have I broken it down too much, I don't know. I feel in my own mind though that I have to do the job as completely as I can and pass on all the information to the players.

" Then I am going to say to them, right, come on, I have done my bit, you stand tall, you be brave and you do your bit. Back up the work that we have done as a staff and back up the work that we have done throughout the season, and make sure that we go out, and if Hereford get anything out of this game then it is over our dead bodies.

" It is as serious as that, I want to see a complete determination from the team, and as soon as I get out of this conference here I am straight into the players. The message will be delivered straight away before a ball has been kicked this morning, because I have to make them understand that responsibility lies within. "



" I can take the brunt and I will take the criticism and I will take the pressure of not having enough points at the moment. Ultimately though, they have got to go out there and perform and produce, I can't do that because my little legs and my old lungs won't move any quicker any more. I will tell you what though, I would love to be playing, absolutely love to be playing tonight, but I can't be unfortunately.

" I have been relegated once and it hurts, it hurts like hell. Obviously I have never been in this situation as a manager, it has all been reasonably good as a manager, but this is the first time that I have been looking at games where you think that the result is important, very, very important. For me as a manager or a person even, and I hope that the fans and the players, certainly the players, see it the same way. That it is a massive game for us tonight and we all have to be together.

" The rules don't change, bravery, honesty and determination are the key words that everybody from top to bottom has to show tonight. We will survive this, don't you worry about that, we will survive this, the situation still should never have occurred where it has got to this level but we will survive it and we will come out better for it all round.

" We want to be looking better than that but at the minute that is the priority. The points to win the game to give us that situation and then we can look at it and break it down and work out why it hasn't happened so well for us this season and go from there. At the minute though we are in a situation where it needs immediate attention and we are going to give it tonight. "